Vatican’s Great Films #01: Andrei Rublev (1966, USSR)

For the 100th anniversary of cinema in 1995, the Vatican created a list of “Great Films.” The 45 films are seperated into three categories: “Religion”, “Values” and “Art”, each containing 15 diverse films.

This is the first post of, you guessed it, 45 posts on the Vatican’s 45 films. In each post, I will briefly address each of the movies on the Vatican’s Great Films list, and I am hoping to provide a small hub of info on each of these films and a discussion area for my readers (if you’re up for it!).

I wanted to begin with the “Religion” category, since this blog is intended to bring light to videos from two perspectives of Catholicism and Video Production.

ANDREI RUBLEV (1966, USSR, Andrey Tarkovskiy)

Catholic Trailers - Andrei Rublev - Vatican's Greatest Films

The first film on the Vatican’s list in the Religion category is Andrei Rublev (Russian: Андрей Рублёв, Andrey Rublyov), also known as The Passion According to Andrei, originally released in 1966. Edited versions were re-released multiple times in the following years for various purposes and audiences. This Russian production is loosely based on the life of Andrei Rublev a 15th-century monk who perseveres in painting icons and other religious art despite the civil disruptions and cruel turmoil of his times. Director Andrey Tarkovskiy visualizes brilliantly the story of a devout man seeking through his art to find the transcendent in the savagery of the Mongol-Tartar invasions and the unfeeling brutality of Russian nobles. The film features Anatoly Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolai Sergeyev, Nikolai Burlyayev and Tarkovsky’s wife Irma Raush.

Roger Ebert called the casting of the Iron Bell in Andrei Rublev one of his “100 Great Movie Moments” along with moments from other classic films such as Gone With The Wind, Casablanca, True Grit and Star Wars.

What do you think?

– Have you seen one of the versions of Andrei Rublev?
– How did this film affect your life as a Catholic, if at all?
– What should ALL Catholics know before watching this movie?